Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision

If you worked through the Create Your Vision Challenge, one of the last exercises was choosing your word for the year. Your word of the year helps remind you of your vision for the year and what you hope to accomplish. But now that you have your word, what are you going to do with it? There are three ways I've found that are really effective for using your word for the year. 1 - Remind you of who you are trying to become You can do this in any season of motherhood, but it is especially powerful in the hard seasons when you don't have much control over your circumstances. Write your word on the bathroom mirror, put a reminder in your phone, or end the day reflecting on how you lived up to your word throughout the day. 2 - Help you at a decision point Use your word to guide the choices you make each day. For example, if your word was "generous," it could help you decide to share your lunch with friends or be generous with your time and attention at bedtime. 3 - Guide your thoughts Use your word to help boss your brain around. For example, "life-giving" encourages me to refrain from my victim thoughts around cooking or cleaning to ones where I see myself as doing nurturing, life-giving activities for our family. When you use your word of the year to guide you in these areas (and any more that you think of that are helpful to you), you can stay in alignment with your yearly vision and the person you want to be. It's an easy way to better stay on track to reach your goals. If you need help figuring out your word, head to thrivinginmotherhood.com/vision for the 5-Day Create Your Vision Challenge.

Have you ever had the feeling of excitedly buying a planner and using it with great enthusiasm in the beginning but after a few days, weeks, or maybe even months, it starts to collect dust and end up in the back of the closet? Or, maybe it's led to paralyzing planning guilt, and you've abandoned the exercise entirely and sworn off buying planners. In this week's episode, I talk about what it looks like to use a planner in different seasons of motherhood. Spoiler alert: sometimes there are a lot of blank pages, and that's okay! Your planner is meant to support you, not give you anxiety or guilt! Depending on where you are in your life and your motherhood journey, there are so many ways to approach planning that make your life better. I've found there are four phases when it comes to planning. These work best when you're using the Thriving in Motherhood Planner, but you can also implement them into your planning system. 4 Phases of Planning in Motherhood Reality check - This is a great place to start if you're out of the habit of planning or in an intense season of survival. This includes a monthly review to celebrate what you accomplished, learned, places you went, things you did with your family, and books you read. This helps you see all that you've accomplished and track the important milestones in your life. Management - This is what we typically focus on when we think of planning. This would be writing down your appointments, context-based to-dos, meals, think and process pages, and brain dumps. Momentum - This is a more proactive phase of planning and includes a monthly planning session at the beginning of each month and a weekly Big 3. This planning phase allows you to look ahead to where you want to go and plan to get there in small steps. Alignment - This phase would include using all of the Thriving in Motherhood Planner systems and living your life in alignment with your vision and goals. In this phase, you are doing a quarterly review, setting your intentions for the day with a daily Big 3, deciding on a weekly focus, and tracking the habits you want to create. When you have to pause and set your planner aside, don't panic! You will be able to pick it back up and jump right back in when it's time. The goal is to have the support and resources you need in your planning. The Thriving in Motherhood Planner is designed to scale up and down to support you in every season of motherhood. Are you surviving or so busy you just wake up and take things as they come? Perfect! Use the planner to Reality Check once a month and celebrate all that happened. Are you ready to think one step ahead and know where you will be or what everyone will eat for dinner? Adding in Management will help you take care of that. Do you have projects or goals you want to work toward? Then, you're ready for Momentum and giving monthly planning and a weekly Big 3 a try. Are you ready to intentionally align your time and energy with the things that matter most to you? In Alignment, it's time to add quarterly reviews, daily big 3s, a weekly focus, and habit tracking. You might switch from week to week or month to month with how you use your planner. That's completely normal! The important thing is to know it's normal and that your planner is a TOOL that is here to support you, not rule over you. If you're ready to start, it's not too late to get your 2023 Thriving in Motherhood Planner today! Click here to learn more.

Do you feel the pressure to set big goals and achieve them quickly? In January, I feel bombarded by all the messaging about "doubling," "accelerating," and "2X faster/better" in all areas of life. Productivity, homeschooling, business, decluttering our homes, and the list goes on. It's enough to make me want to give up or not even start. Early one morning, as I was praying about my discouragement, I ended up in The New Testament. In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel shared with Zacharias that his son, John, would be "great in the sight of the Lord…and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." (verses 12-16). This prophecy would take decades to fulfill. The same angel told Mary that her son, Jesus, "shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father, David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there shall be no end. (verses 30-33). The fulfillment of that prophecy is taking millenniums. As I read this, I had the thought that maybe God doesn't care about speed and efficiency as much as we do (or the marketing experts). But, even though these prophecies took time, these weren't decades spent in complacency and waiting for big things to happen. Of John, it is said that he "grew and waxed strong in spirit (verse 80); of Jesus, "he increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). So what does this mean for us moms? It's okay to stick to the basics! To let the small things we do each day add up and compound over time into big things. It may sound less exciting, but growth takes time. Becoming takes time. Doing the things God puts on your heart is as much about the journey as it is the destination. If you haven't taken the first step and created your vision for the year, you can sign up for the free mini-course here.

All of my kids stopped napping around age two. When we went through the transition the first time with my oldest, I was reading one of Sally Clarkson's books (I've read so many, I'm not sure which one mentioned this), and she said that every day they had quiet time to read and be in their own space to recharge. From that day forward, we rebranded "nap time" to 'rest and read time," and we've had this as an anchor for our day ever since. Read and rest time isn't boring at our house. Sometimes there are creative messes, and sometimes, my 9-year-old has organized and deep-cleaned a kitchen cabinet. I never know what I'm going to find when I come back out of my room. Regardless, because of this routine, I will be recharged and ready for what's next On today's episode, I'm sharing what is working now for the kids and me as a homeschooling family of six to be successful. Have you created your vision for 2023 yet? Now is the perfect time to get clarity about what matters to you so you can spend your days on things you actually want to be doing instead of hiding in the bathroom or scrolling social media to escape. Join the free 6-day challenge here.

One of the questions that has emerged for me as a mother with less physical energy than I'd like is, "What really matters when it comes to parenting?" For a long time, my tactic was don't engage if I can't be nice or I can't enforce (which has been the case off and on with challenging pregnancies or recovering from surgeries). But, as my kids get older, I realize that isn't an effective long-term plan. I came across The Collapse of Parenting which provided a lot of clarity as to where to focus my time, energy, and attention in parenting. One of my first big takeaways came in the very first chapter, "Our job as parents is to pass on culture to our children." If we let our kids learn the culture of their peers, it is one Irampant of disrespect. As a parent, my job is to decide what culture I want to pass on to my children and lead by example. Check out this week's episode for more of my favorite takeaways from the book and how it is shaping my day-to-day interactions with my kids.

This week's episode is a peek into one of the incredible groups in Soaring Mothers Society. They were the first women to go through the Made To Soar: Next 90-Days program in 2020, and we've been meeting every month for the last two years to do monthly planning and reviews together. The transformation and growth of these women is incredible, and it was a real treat to take a few minutes to celebrate their journeys and growth in household management, family relationships, strengthening community, completing projects, and growing businesses. The secret has been consistently taking baby steps and having people to celebrate with along the way. Here is the experience one of the members has had: "Before I got the Thriving in Motherhood Planner and joined the Next 90-Days Course, I lacked clarity. The first time I went through the Create Your Vision Challenge, my word for the year was clarity. We had no structure in our days, no routines, no systems in our house, and my wheels were spinning. I wasn't moving forward on anything. The Thriving in Motherhood Planner, Next 90-Days Course, and Soaring Mothers Society have taught me how to get the clarity I needed and take action to figure all those things out. Now on my good days, I feel like I'm thinking about what God wants me to do with my life instead of what I want to do with my life." -Makenzie Schmitt As we begin this new year, if you want support figuring out practical ways to organize your life and make progress on the things that matter to you, check out the Your Next 90-Days program here. We'd love to support you in creating a life you are excited to wake up to!

It's amazing the impact looking back can have on how I feel about the year. In this week's Thriving in Motherhood podcast episode, I am reviewing my 2022 with you and giving some tips for how you can look at your year as well. Spoiler alert - I started this activity thinking things weren't that great and ended feeling like I was on top of the world and could do anything). As a close friend recently said, "You are very good at not seeing all that you are not doing." Looking back tells the story of your growth and allows you to see what is real. It gives you a chance to celebrate your learning, growth, family adventures, progress, milestones, and important memories. From this place, you can gather clues about what is important to you, what's missing in your life, and how you want to grow and change during the next year. This also brings you to a place of momentum, energy, and enthusiasm for your life. That is a place that is fun to think about possibilities of the next year from. Whatever season of motherhood you find yourself in, this essential practice of creating your vision for the year will bring purpose to your days and joy into your life. It allows you to pause and decide what matters to you and what type of life you want to live. If you're ready to start the new year off right, I invite you to join the 6-day Create Your Vision Challenge and create a life you are excited to wake up to each day. And, if your brain is even remotely like mine, and you struggle to see all the amazing things you're doing, check out this episode to jump-start your review process.

Do you ever feel bored as a mom? Do you have full, busy days, but at the end of them, you don't feel fulfilled? Are you bummed because you don't feel like you're able to make progress on the things you want to do? I've been there, and in this week's podcast episode, we talk about what to do when you find yourself in this place. The very first step to getting out of this rut is getting more clarity about what matters to you by creating your vision for the year. Until you know who you want to be and what you want to do, it is going to be very challenging to change feeling bored, bummed, or busy. This isn't going to be a one-and-done thing, either. For me, it has become a yearly practice where I brain dump, reflect on the previous year and work through a process of uncovering where I need to focus my time and energy. 2023 is just around the corner and if you're ready to have your best year ever, come join us for the Create Your Vision Challenge. This is designed specifically for mothers with children at home who want to soar! This challenge is even more fun when you invite some friends to join you. This not only provides accountability but year-long support and deeper friendships as you work to make your visions a reality together. I invite you to send this email or the podcast episode to a few friends and join us in creating a vision for your most purposeful year yet! Sign up here!

Does anyone else have moments where it feels overwhelming, no matter how much progress you've made with your home? I've been there the last few weeks, searching for a way through our upstairs bedrooms. I've read dozens of books over the years about decluttering, organizing, and maintaining your home, but the reality is when I walk into a messy bedroom, I'm not sure what to do next and back away slowly. Then I look through the Ikea website for organizational furniture, google how far away the closest Ikea is (it's 2 hours - every time!) and then realize it's time to make the next meal. Well, after a breakdown (yep, it happened) follows a breakthrough, and in this week's episode, I'm sharing my recently developed framework that is empowering me to face these much-used rooms head-on! This breakthrough led me to develop the four principles of creating a home that supports you: Simplify - remove what doesn't belong in the room or isn't being used. You can throw it away, donate it, put it in a "time will tell" bin (thanks, Dawn @minimalmom), or put it in a different room of the house to deal with later. The point is only to have what you use in that room left. Assign Spaces - everything in the room needs a home, but this probably won't happen overnight. This is a process of observing where things get left or piled up and creating homes right there or nearby that contains what might look like clutter. Systematize - Establish when, how, and who will reset each aspect of your space. There will be dozens of little systems running inside your home, but as you build them slowly, they will become automated habits. Slow to stick!! Personalize - if you are a natural decorator, obviously keep doing your thing when it works for you! But, for the rest of us, now is the time to make the space fit your style and reflect your values. You want there to be a payoff for walking to a clean space that feels inviting to you - not cold and sterile. Each phase has a different focus and tactic to help you raise the standard of cleanliness in your home. If you keep trying to do phases 1 and 2 in hopes of having a house that stays clean, you might experience fight or flight mode like me whenever anyone takes anything out of a closet. Moving through the phases takes time, and each room will probably be in a different phase - which is completely fine! The hope is that you will be able to identify where each space is at so you know what to do when you enter the room and also see the progress you are making more clearly. In the last year, my values around home and parenting have changed. As a result, my time and energy are shifting to things that I didn't put as much effort into in my 20s. I've realized that my home can play an integral role in actively living out these ideals and reflects our most important values. When I created the Simplify to Soar Club a few years ago, my hope was that it would support me in becoming a Soaring Mother. Now I have more clarity about the work my home actually needs to do for us. Listen to this week's podcast episode for more tips and ideas for creating a home that supports you.

Typically at the end of the year, when there is so much going on, I start to feel like I'm not seeing a lot of progress on my projects and goals. This leads me to feel discouraged and want to give up - which is not an option when managing a household. One thing I like to do when I notice this feeling creeping is to create a "Finish List" to create some momentum. Dave Ramsey has a principle he calls the "debt snowball." The idea is that if you have multiple lines of debt, you pay off the smallest amount of debt first to see some quick wins and stay committed to making progress. This same principle can work with our projects! Sit down and write a list of all the unfinished projects currently taking up brain space. Now evaluate that list and see if there are things you could knock out today or in a few hours. Start to build momentum by seeing progress and watch how much you can accomplish in your small pockets of time before the end of the year (or not, if that stresses you out instead of motivating you). The key ingredients to a long-term commitment to our goals are: Clarity about what matters Consistent action Recognizing your progress along the way. When you do all three, you build energy and momentum. It becomes exciting as your time and energy are aligned with your heart-decided priorities. The Thriving in Motherhood Planner takes these research-based principles and includes all of these elements to keep you moving forward in small pockets of time on the things that matter most to you and celebrates your progress along the way. You can get yours today here! For more tips like this, listen to this week's episode as I share what I do to turn things around, end the year with a clean slate, and get ready to create in 2023.